MUMBAI, AUG 25: THE Cotton Association of India (CAI) has welcomed the Union government’s decision to place exports of raw cotton and cotton waste in the free list of commodities form october 1.

The long-term interest of the cotton economy lies in the easy availability of the natural fibre in the country, CAI felt.

Sowing so far has been far ahead than in the last sea son. A bumper crop was, therefore, expected thus making a large surplus available for exports, pointed out Mr Dhiren N. Sheth president of CAI.

NEW DELHI, AUG, 25: TEXTILE and apparel exports to the US have reported a robust growth of 35 per cent on an annual basis in value terms is june.

This is the highest by any major exporting nation and well above the growth rates recorded by Vietnam Bangladesh, pakistan, Mexico and even china.

The export growth, seen snowballing since the beginning of this year, has been more evident since April, after well over a year of sluggish growth, according to data from the US office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA).

The overall growth during the January june period was 14 per cent, lower than the 18 per cent clocked by china, but ahead of most other competitors.

In terms of total exports, which include the shipments to the European Union, India is still ahead of vietnam.

Bangladesh, which is focused largely on the European market, is well ahead of India in terms of overall textile and apparel exports, despite trailing in the US market.

NEW DELHI, AUG 25: The port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s airports handled slightly more cargo in the first quarter, while the agency’s sea ports saw 9.6 pc growth over2009. Truck traffic, which generates significant revenue for the port Authority, declined by 2.1 pc duringthe reporting period compared to the same period a year earlier.

At the port Authority ’s major airports, traffic rose 1.3 pc during the first three months of 2010. buoyed by a 5.8 pcincrease in international travel. Domestic travel fell 0.8 pc.

The slight rebound followed a 4.8 pc drop in airport passengers in 2009, a statement from port authorities said. Loaded cargo at its major seaport terminals registered growth, with imports up 9.8 pc during the first quarter of 2010, while exports were up 9.6 pc. The increase follows a significant decline in 2009 when seaport cargo dropped 12.7 pc, the biggest one-year decline in nearly a quarter of a century.

The port Authority said its own fiscal condition remained sound due to numberous cost containment efforts undertaken, including the implementation of two consecutive years of zero-growth operating budgets, staff reductions, and the prioritisation and scaling back of its long term capital programme.

Port Authority chairman Anthony Coscia said: “The latest numbers show that the national recession continues to impact ourBUsinesses, though we’re beginning to witness signs of a return to growth in the future, In the meantime, we will continue to control costs and to meet our commitments.”

NEW DELHI, AUG 25: THE Indian textile and apparels shipments to the key US market have recorded a sharp uptrend. According to data from The US Office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA), India’s textile and apparel exports to the US reported a sharp 35 per cent surge on an annual basis in value terms in june, the highest by any major exporting nation and well above the growth recorded by vietnam, Bangladesh, pakistan, Mexico and even china.

The overall growth duringthe January-June period was 14 per cent, lower than the 18 per cent clocked by china, but ahead of most other competitors, In terms of overall value of exports since the beginningof the year Vietnam is now marginally ahead of India in the US market, with china on top by a wide margin.

In terms of total exports, which also include the shipments to European Union, India is still ahead of vietnam. Bangladesh, which is focussed largely on the European market, is well ahead of India in terms of overall textile and apparel exports,despite trailing in the US market.

MUMBAI, AUG 25; Business is back to normal at Mumbai and JN ports as the shipping channel to the ports has been cleared of the containers that fell from the decks of the MSC chitra after it collided with the bulk carrier khalijia 3.

‘There is no congestion at the ports now, Around 93 vessels have left Mumbai and JNP and 80 others have entered the ports to discharge or load cargo,” said joint shipping secretary Rakesh Srivastava. Naval escorts have been discontinued according to the DG shipping while all actual containers from the stricken MSC chitra have been retrieved, 250 were “as good as lost” and expected to have drifted towards south Maharashtra. The MSC vessel is being”stabilised” by filling one its tanks with ballast water. The shutdown that involved is expected to impact trade worth US$4 billion, according to the president of the FIEO MSC has been held liable for payment of compensation by the govt and Mumbai port Trust (MbPT) for the fuel leak. Said Mumbai port chairman Rahul Asthana: “Following the principle of strict liability MSC will have to bear the cost of operations and the loss of  business This would also include the cost of cleaning up the environment once we have quantified it.”

MSC’s reponse was:”For reasons not known to us the Khalijia 3 unexpectedly continued turning to port [to its left] and came back to cross the fairway again, now heading in a generally northbound direction and struck the MSC chitra’s port side. There fore, it would appear that, under the Khalijia 3was significantly in error. we, of course, await the results of the full inquiry.”

NEW DELHI, AUG.25: Major ports in India will be allowed to outsource all future clean -up operations to global agencies with expertise in the area.

The Ministry of shipping agreed on this after reviewing India’s preparedness to handle oil spills.

‘we are most likely going to outsource it, as it is not possible for ports to buy all the equipment which runs into several hundred crores. we are planning to authorise the ports to outsource the job of clean up to people who have prior experience in handling such cases, Rakesh Srivastava joint secretary in the ministry, said.

The ministry came to this conclusion after the government’s disastrous experience in combatingthe spill from a damaged ship, MSC chitra, at the mouth of Mumbai harbour.

‘We are not equipped to handle an oil spill of even 700 tonnes, said a senior government official involved in the Mumbai clean-up operation. The equipment needed for cleaning up the oil slick is very expensive and its maintenance is very difficult,’ the official said.

“The equipment needed for cleaning up the oil slick (near Mumbai) is very expensive and its maintenance is very difficult:- A senior government official said. The Ministry has created a contingency fund for clean up operations.

The money has been collected by ports, which handle oil imports and exports, by charging 50 paise (less than two Singapore cents) per tonne from oil passing through these ports, ‘We will prepare an approved list of people or companies which handle oil spills … technical people from all over the world, Mr Srivastava said.

Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar recently reviewed the ongoing clean up activity for a speedy restoration of sea lanes leading to Mumbai port. However, the respon sibility of combating small oil spills has been divided between the ports and the coast Guard.

Ports are expected to handle oil spills of less than 700 tonnes in their vicinity.

A possibility of a spill exceeding 10, 000 tonnes had not even been contemplated until the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico happened which caught governments off guard with no clear guidelines on handlingoil spills of such a magnitude DG shipping S B Agnihotri, said that the coast Guard the the Ministry of Environment are the pimary agencies tasked with combating and containing oil spills.

The coast Guard had a supply of booms, surface skimmers and chemial dispersants but they could be in short supply, he said.

According to reports, the oil spill has spread to the Elephanta caves, and the Alibaug coast inneighbouring Raigad.

Minister for Environ ment of Maharashtra state Suresh shetty said the state will clean up the waters, and bear the cost which will later be recovered from the the ships involved.

NEW DELHI, AUG 23:The government on Monday extended sops worth Rs 1,052 crore to exporters, particularly for the labour intersive textile, handicrafts  and leather sectors, to help them see through the fragile economic recovery globally. “We are not yet out of the woods,” commerce and Industry Minister Anand sharma said while extending the schemes like DEPB, subsidised interest and sops for import of capital goods. Releasing the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade policy 2009-14, he said the revenue implication of these measures would be Rs 1,052 crore.

The government made it clear that the popular Duty Entitlement pass Book (DEPB) scheme, which has been in vogue for over a decade, is being extended for the last time for a further period of six months.

Experts said drawing the curtains on the DEPB scheme was inevitable as it was considered incompatible with the global trade under WTO. However, Commerce Secrtary Rahul Khullar indicated said that the Ministry might formulate an alternative scheme. A number of additional products from sectors like engineering. leather, textiles and jute have also been added to the existing two pc interest subvention scheme.

Handloom, handicrafts, carpet and the SMES have been getting this facility which will now be available till March 31, 2011. As regards the prospect of the current fiscal, the minister said: “We are on course to achieving export target ($200 billion) for 2010-11″ Exports in the previous fiscal to talled $ 178.6 billion in the midst of the global economic crisis, which affected demand in the developed world, The government also extended the zero-duty Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG)  scheme by one year to March 31.2012.

The scheme, which was announced in August last year, was to expire on March 31,2011. steps to reduce trans action cost of exports too were announced in the policy. At present transaction costs are estimated at 7-8 pc of the exports value, India Inc expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the government in wake of the global demand slowdown and domestic resource constraints. ” It is a forward looking policy,” FIEO president A Sakthivel said. Ficci and CII, welcomed the policy supplement, amid promises that the transaction cost for exporters would be brought down by 40 pc.

NEW DELHI, AUG 23: The textiles industry said the government’s decision to allow cotton exports from October 1 will affect their business, as the move will lead to an increase in the price of the natural fibre. “The cotton exports will severely affect our business. We shall be exporting our valuable raw material to competing countries rather than promoting value-addition within the country,” Northern India Textile Mills Association (NITMA) President Ashish Bargrodia said.

This will also affect employment-generating downstream sectors like handlooms, powerlooms and garments, he added. On August 17, the government announced that the curbs on cotton exports under the OGL and the Rs 2,500 per tonne duty on Shipments of the natural fibre would be lifted from October 1.

NITMA said the present rise in raw cotton prices is mainly due to unchecked exports of cotton in the initial monhts of the current cotton season (2009-10) starting October.

“The prices, which were ruling around Rs 26,000 per candy in January this year, have shot up to Rs 33,000 per candy for a premium quality of cotton, ” Bagrodia said. One candy of cotton weighs 356 kg. The association has appealed to the government to allow exports of raw cotton only after a detailed quantitative assessment of the requirement of the local industry is done.

MADURAI AUG 23: Tuticorin port is steadily increasing its throughput and as of date, the port has handled 9 mlt and 1.6 lakh TEUs during the financial year 2010-11, registering an increase of 1.80 pc, according Mr G.J. Rao, chairman, Tuticorin port trust (TPT).

Addressing the 64 th Independence Day celebration organized at the port, he said that the country is facing number of challegnges like the depvelompment of infrastructure to meet the economic growth rate and to overcome this, the port sector has taken many projects under the NMDP.

Currently, the total capacity of the Indian Major ports stands at 574.77 million tonnes and by implement projects, the country is poised to have a capacity of one billion tonnes shortly.

As far as Tuticorin port is concerned, the portscapacity is 22.81 million tonnes and the port management has initiated a number of projects.

The Inner Harbour Development Programme will increase the port’s capacity to about 45 million tonnes by end-2012.

Further, the port is developing North cargo Berth I as captive berth for the NLC. The bid document for the construction of North cargo Berth -II has been opened recently and the port has got highest revenue share of 52.17 pc, being the second-highest in all ports in India.

MUMBAI, AUG 23; THE improved demand outlook in the US and China has caused Mr Vasant Mehta, Chairman of the Gen and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), to view the current fiscal with optimism. He reckons exports will rise by at least 10 per cent in 2010-11.

“I expect the gems and jewellery exports to go up by at least 10 per cent from last year on rising enquiries from the US and china,” he told newsmen at the inauguration of India International Jewellery show-2010 here.

In 2009-10, exports totalled $28.41 billion up by 16 per cent from 2008-09.

“It is very early to say how the US will perfor, but it is coming up step-by -step and there are indications that demand from the world’s largest consumer will go up by at least 10 per cent from last year,” Mr Mehta explained.

Even the Chinese market was promising and demand for jewellery from West Asia was also twinkling, reviving hopes of higher exports.

The series of buyer-seller meets organised by GJEPC with its chinese counterparts in the last few months had attracted a lot of attention, he added.

The gems and jewellery industry, which is one of the top foreign exchange earners, accounts for 17-23 per cent of the total export earnings, he disclosed.